A former youth gymnastics coach was sentenced to 90 years in federal prison Wednesday for secretly recording young female athletes at a Mississippi gym.
US District Judge Kristi Johnson imposed the maximum possible sentence on Sean Gardner, 39, ordering him to serve 30 years for each of three federal child pornography production charges to which he pleaded guilty. The sentence effectively amounts to life imprisonment for the disgraced coach.
Gardner admitted to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018. Investigators recovered videos from his computers years later showing close-up images of at least 10 minors naked or undressing, according to court records.
The FBI arrested Gardner last summer, a case first reported. That arrest came as authorities were already investigating separate claims that he had sexually abused gymnasts in Iowa, where he had built a prominent coaching career.
Several former students at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, have told police and alleged in civil lawsuits that Gardner exploited his position to prey on them. The elite training center was founded by Liang “Chow” Qiao, the celebrated coach known for producing Olympic champions. Gardner had coached multiple youth prospects there and served as director of an annual winter meet that attracted hundreds of gymnasts to the state.
Gardner has not been charged in connection with any Iowa allegations. Police have indicated they will determine how to proceed with that investigation only after the federal case concludes.
The civil lawsuits have targeted not just Gardner but the sport’s oversight bodies. Plaintiffs allege that USA Gymnastics and the US Center for SafeSport were informed about inappropriate behavior by Gardner in 2017 yet failed to remove him from the sport for years.
SafeSport, the organization tasked with investigating abuse in Olympic sports, temporarily suspended Gardner in 2022 after a Chow’s gymnast came forward with sexual abuse allegations. Chow’s Gymnastics fired him at that time.
SafeSport has stated that its investigation revealed Chow and other coaches had known about allegations of sexual misconduct against Gardner but failed to report them to the center as required by policy.
The Mississippi recordings and the Iowa abuse allegations together have renewed scrutiny of whether US gymnastics authorities have done enough to protect athletes from predatory coaches. Gardner’s case follows a pattern of high-profile abuse scandals that have shaken the sport over the past decade.
The federal sentencing in Mississippi closes one chapter of a case that spans multiple states and has exposed what critics call systemic failures in gymnastics oversight. The 90-year sentence ensures Gardner will die in prison regardless of whether Iowa authorities eventually bring additional charges.